Two Philippine politicians wanted for murdering a prominent environmental activist have been arrested in Phuket after more than three years on the run.
Crime Suppression Division commander Pol Maj Gen Akradej Pimolsri said Monday that Joel Reyes, 63, former governor of Palawan province, and his brother, Mario Reyes, 54, a former municipal mayor in the same western province, were apprehended Sunday following a tip from Interpol.
The two had been living in Phuket for three years.
The CSD commander said the two brothers, who ran an ore-mining business, are charged with the 2011 murder of Gerry Ortega, an anti-corruption crusader who opposed their mining operations. He also hosted a radio show on which he frequently accused the suspects of massive graft.
The Reyes brothers slipped out of the Philippines sometime in March 2012 after that country's Justice Department indicted the pair for murder and a Palawan court issued warrants for their arrests. Each has a 2-million-peso (1.5-million-baht) reward on their heads.
The fugitives had been living in a rented house in Rawai of Phuket's Muang district since 2012, Pol Maj Gen Akradej. He said the two would initially be charged under the Immigration Act as Joel Reyes entered the country illegally and Mario had overstayed his visa.
Once prosecuted under the Immigration Act, the fugitives would be deported to back to the Philippines to stand trial, he said.
Pol Maj Gen Akradej said both Reyes brothers confessed to having fled their arrest warrants to hide in Thailand, but said they were ready to be deported home to fight the case. They thanked the Thai authorities and people for their time in Thailand and hoped for a return visit.
Ortega was shot in the head at point-blank range while shopping in the capital of Palawan, an island known as the Philippines' last environmental frontier but which has suffered from illegal logging, mining and overfishing.
The gunman was caught trying to flee the scene and police said his weapon was owned by one of Joel Reyes's lawyers.
"The arrest of the long-wanted Reyes brothers provides an opportunity for pursuing the ends of justice," said presidential spokesman Herminio Coloma in a statement reported by AFP.
The spokesman thanked Interpol and Thai police for their help in arresting the Reyes brothers.
Aside from alleged environmental crimes, Ortega had accused Joel Reyes of syphoning off millions of dollars in revenues from a gas field off the coast of Palawan when he was governor.
Patty Ortega, widow of the murdered activist, told AFP a task force assigned to capture high-profile fugitives had informed her of the arrests. She expressed relief but also said she was worried about whether the Reyes brothers could still evade justice.
"We still feel anxiety. Our judicial system is not that fast. We know our opponents have a lot of advantages. They have money, influence. They slipped through immigration. So it is not far from our thoughts that something else might happen," she said.
"I want to see them handcuffed and facing a court and in jail."